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发信人: hunanhknc(鸡蛋) 整理人: roy_young(2002-05-21 12:26:25), 站内信件 |
| China Unblocks Foreign Media Web Sites
By John Ruwitch Reuters Thursday, May 16, 2002; 10:31 AM BEIJING, May 16桟hina appears to have lifted long-standing blocks on the Web sites of several Western news organizations that were freely accessible through local Internet connections in Beijing and Shanghai on Thursday. There was no official announcement explaining why normally censored Web sites, which included those of Reuters, CNN and the Washington Post, were accessible, some as early as Wednesday evening. Nor was there any immediate indication of a change in policy. "We aren't aware that there's any change," said a CNN spokeswoman in Hong Kong. Foreign news organizations have lobbied hard for China to lift blocks on their sites, but Beijing remains deeply suspicious of foreign media, especially in the run-up to a leadership reshuffle expected later this year. The reason and timing for the apparent lifting of the blocks, which many Web-savvy Chinese had found ways to circumvent with proxy servers, was not immediately clear and it was not known if the measure would last. "Maybe they've realized that it is very easy to get around their blocks anyway and that it may be more efficient to just open them up and monitor their use," said one Western diplomat. "They must have cared to have them blocked in the first place. It's a good move in general," he said. On Thursday, the sites of the Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Boston Globe and Atlanta Journal-Constitution could also be accessed. Time Magazine, the Voice of America and the BBC's news site, however, appeared to be still blocked. The Ministry of State Security declined comment and officials at the Ministry of Information Industry were unavailable. Officials at the Foreign Ministry and the Information Office of the State Council, China's cabinet, said they were unaware the previously censored Web sites had been unblocked. China has freed up various blocked foreign news Web sites in the past, but mostly on a temporary basis. In October, when Shanghai hosted a meeting of Asia-Pacific heads of state, several were unblocked, but shortly after the week-long forum ended China's Internet censors clamped back down. "This stuff tends to follow a pattern梩wo steps up, one step back," said Peter Lovelock, director at Beijing-based Internet and telecoms consultancy MFC Insight, adding that a number of blocks were taken off ahead of the Boao Forum in April. "As soon as the next critical incident happens or they get threatened, they'll slam down the blocks again on a few sites that they figure aren't being friendly or are threatening somehow," Lovelock said. But in a move some hailed as a step towards greater press freedom in China, The New York Times Web site was unblocked and has remained so since last year when Chinese President Jiang Zemin, during an interview with senior Times editors, said he would look into the matter. (Additional repoting by Jonah Greenberg) ---- 纤云弄巧,飞星传恨. 银河迢迢暗渡, 金风玉露一相逢,便胜却人间无数 柔情似水,佳期如梦. 忍顾鹊桥归路 两情若是久长时,又岂在朝朝暮暮 |
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